Hardline Ben-Gvir calls for dismantling Israeli War Cabinet if intensity of war on Gaza reduces

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Hardline Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday demanded the Israeli War Cabinet be dismantled if the intensity of the war on Gaza is reduced.

The Israeli War Cabinet was established on Oct. 11 to direct the war on Gaza, and is comprised of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Benny Gantz, who is head of the opposition National Unity Party, in addition to two observers; Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and minister without portfolio Gadi Eisenkot.

“The idea of reducing activity in Gaza is a failure of war management by the small [war] cabinet. It should be dismantled immediately," Ben-Gvir said in a statement.

"The time has come to restore the reins to the wider [security] cabinet,” he added.

“If anyone intends, God forbid, to halt the IDF [Israeli army] before Hamas has been defeated and all the hostages have been returned, he should take into account that Otzma Yehudit will not be with him,” Ben-Gvir also said in reference to his party joining the ruling coalition.

On Monday, Israeli media reported that Israel is negotiating with the mediators - Egypt and Qatar - in an attempt to reach a new prisoner swap deal with the Hamas group.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing nearly 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 52,586 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while nearly 130 hostages remain in captivity.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar